Backed by Jamaat, marred by extortion: Can King’s party NCP bring stability in Bangladesh?

New Delhi, Aug 5 The National Citizen Party (NCP) has ambitious plans for Bangladesh. Its manifesto on a Second Republic has laid a strong emphasis on youth empowerment, education reform, and future-ready policies.

The NCP is a youth-led party that was established through the July 2024 mass uprising. The party promises to promote youth empowerment while prioritising their cultures, capabilities, norms, and expectations towards society.

The party’s programmes do look promising, especially since the country is in turmoil. The big question is if it comes to power in the December elections, will it be able to control the radical mob, which has been causing rampages on the streets? This is a pertinent question since the NCP has said that it would promote youth engagement and deter drug use and criminal behaviour.

This is the same party that was formed following the mass uprising by students to overthrow Sheikh Hasina. The ouster of Hasina led to the interim government being formed under its caretaker, Muhammad Yunus.

It is no secret that the students’ uprising and Yunus had the backing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, an outfit that is banned in India. A government, which will be run by the NCP, will have the backing of both Yunus and the Jamaat.

In its manifesto, the NCP has also spoken about tackling corruption. If one looks at the kind of violence that is taking place and the shocking data relating to Bangladesh, then it seems that the going would be tough for the NCP.

The manifesto does have progressive goals that think ahead. But the ground reality is something different, and the real challenge would be to bridge the gap between the promises made and the ground realities.

Amidst these promises and every other political party stating that they would restore normalcy in Bangladesh, a report paints a very poor picture.

According to a report released by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), extortion to the tune of Tk 2.2 million (Rs 2.21 crore) has been taking place. These extortions are taking place at 53 transport terminals, sandbanks, and stands in Dhaka that were once under the control of the Awami League.

Additionally, there has been the looting of boulders from rivers and quarries in Sylhet.

Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, there have been incidents where control of leases for bridges, markets, ferry terminals, sandbanks, and waterbodies has taken place.

When asked about the NCP, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said that he calls it the king’s party. He said that the reason he calls the NCP the King’s party is that two of its allies or associates are now in the government.

The TIB report stated that since last August, when the Hasina regime fell, there have been 471 incidents of political violence, which resulted in 121 deaths and 5,189 injuries. Of these, 92 per cent were linked to the BNP, 22 per cent to the Awami League, 5 per cent to the Jamaat, and 1 to the NCP.

In July, the Bangladesh Hindu Bouddho Christian Oikyo Parishad said in a report that there have been 2,242 incidents of violence against the minority communities in Bangladesh. The report said that following the regime change, communal attacks have started with a new intensity in Bangladesh.

On the violence, the TIB said that post August 5, the political trajectory has been chaotic.

Iftekharuzzaman said, “A section of the top leaders of established political parties engaged in practices like cronyism, extortion, and filing of cases in exchange for money from the evening of that day; these practices have only intensified over the past year. This could not be controlled even after taking actions by the party's high command. Consequently, newly launched political parties have also been following the same model of grabbing and extortion from their inception and heading towards a self-destructive path.”

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